Jon Speelman's Agony Column #43

by Jonathan Speelman

3/5/2017 – This week's Agony is from a young Canadian filmmaker and producer, a childhood friend of Canadian rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor Drake, about whom he has made a documentary film. Jacob Stein submitted two Ecstasy games in the London System (Queen's Pawn Openings with Bf4), and when Jon Speelman requested some “Agony”, he added an obviously very painful loss.

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Jon Speelman's Agony Column #43

This week's games are by Jacob Stein, a Canadian in his early thirties who now lives in New York. He writes:

I am a professional chess instructor based in New York City but originally from Toronto, Canada. I began playing chess in my childhood and became an 1800-level player by the age of 12. After an eight-year absence from the game, I began playing again at the Hart House Chess Club at the University in Toronto, which helped to rekindle my enthusiasm for the game. I am also a filmmaker and film producer, and some of career highlights include a recent short bio-pic I directed called "Growing Up Drake" (link: YouTube).

It chronicles the life of the hip-hop artist Drake (photo Wiki), a childhood friend of mine. A new feature film, "482-Love", in which I also star in, wrote, and directed, is soon to be released.

Chess has always spurred my creativity, helped me stay organized, and allowed me to see life more clearly. I try to impart my knowledge and love for the game to those students that I teach at a Success Academy, a network of charter schools in NYC.

Jacob originally sent me a couple of interesting wins in the London System (Queen's Pawn Openings with Bf4) and when I requested some “Agony”, added an obviously very painful loss in which he made a nice exchange sacrifice but then cracked up in time trouble.

Since we have the same initials I've referred to him as Jacob and inserted my own notes as usual as JS.

[Event "Tough Losses: Stein, Jacob vs. Humphrey"] [Site "https://lichess.org/study/UAu"] [Date "2017.01.27"] [Round "?"] [White "Stein, J."] [Black "Humphreys"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A46"] [PlyCount "80"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] [SourceDate "2015.07.13"] {Most of the notes to this one are by Jacob and I've pitched in as JS from time to time.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 {Even though it has been many years since this loss, it still stings. I was running late. When I sat down at the board, 25 minutes had already elapsed. I decided to play the Tromp for practical reasons, not wanting to spend time in the opening. I proceeded to blitz out my moves against a superior player, a Canadian Master at the time, now an FM.} e6 3. e4 h6 4. Bxf6 Qxf6 5. Nf3 d6 6. Nbd2 Nd7 7. c3 g6 8. Bc4 Bg7 9. Qe2 a6 10. h3 { A waiting move. I was feeling the time pressure begin to weigh on me so I felt h3 couldn't hurt.} O-O 11. O-O c5 12. a4 b6 13. Rfe1 Qe7 14. b4 cxd4 15. cxd4 Bb7 16. Rac1 Rfc8 17. Bd3 Qf8 18. b5 {I felt there was no reason to be shy here.} a5 {I was planning to recapture with the bishop on b5. I just wanted to get my pieces on to good squares.} (18... axb5 19. Bxb5) 19. Bc4 {Perhaps I anticipated 19...Rc7, in which case I could capture the e6 pawn, damaging Black's pawn structure, or play d5 myself. I wanted to impose my will on the position and not wait for Black's forces to mobilize.} Rc7 20. d5 e5 21. Bd3 Rxc1 22. Rxc1 Nc5 {[#]} 23. Rxc5 $1 {This positional sacrifice was intended to act as unexpected "body blow." I can recall looking at Tal games in weeks prior to this game. JS: I like this a lot. By radically changing the postion White puts a lot of pressure on Black. Had he not played Rxc5 then the knight would have been a monster.} bxc5 ({Of} 23... dxc5 24. Nc4 Qd8 25. Nfxe5 Bxe5 26. Nxe5 Qf6 27. Nc4 {JS: White has a massive centre and very good control.}) 24. Nc4 Bf6 {Black is in trouble. Bf6 is accurate and necessary.} 25. Nfd2 Bd8 26. Nb3 Bc8 {[#] JS: In this tense and difficult position, White will be able to capture Nxa5 but his pieces will then temporarily be loose and clumsy and he will have to defend the a4 pawn before the knight can move safely.} 27. Qd2 (27. Qe1 $1 {JS: was much better because if ...f5 immediately Black won't then be able to win a tempo with ...Qf4.} f5 (27... Qe7 28. Bc2 Kg7 29. Qd2 $1 { As Houdini points out, White now has time for this to prevent Qg5.} (29. Nbxa5 Bxa5 30. Nxa5 Qg5 31. Nc4 Bxh3 32. Qf1 (32. Ne3 f5) 32... Bxg2 33. Qxg2 Qc1+) 29... f5 30. Nbxa5 Bxa5 31. Nxa5 fxe4 32. Nc6) 28. Bc2 fxe4 29. Nbxa5 Bxa5 30. Nxa5 Bf5 31. g4 Bd7 32. Nc6) 27... f5 28. Nbxa5 $6 {[#]} (28. Ncxa5 fxe4 29. Bxe4 Bf5 30. f3 Qf6 31. Nc4) (28. exf5 Bxf5 29. Qc2 {JS: kept good compensation for the exchange but wasn't what White wanted when playing Rxc5.}) 28... Kg7 $2 (28... fxe4 $1 {JS: was more challenging with some very messy lines which I've sketched out with Houdini's help:} 29. Bc2 $1 (29. Bxe4 Bxa5 30. Nxa5 Qf4 31. Qe1 Bf5 32. Bxf5 gxf5 33. b6 Qxa4 34. Qb1 Qe4 $1 35. Qb5 (35. Qxe4 fxe4 36. b7 Rb8 37. Kf1 Kf8 38. Ke2 Ke8 39. Ke3 Kd7 40. Kxe4 {this ending is teetering on the brink of winning for Black.}) 35... Qe1+ 36. Kh2 Qxa5 37. b7 Qd8 38. bxa8=Q Qxa8 39. Qd7 {and White is fighting hard but certainly worse} ) 29... Bxa5 30. Nxa5 Qf4 31. Qe1 Qg5 32. Nc4 (32. Kh1 Rxa5 33. Qxa5 Qc1+ 34. Kh2 Qf4+ $10) 32... Bxh3 33. Ne3) 29. b6 fxe4 30. Bxe4 Qe8 (30... Qf4 31. Qc2 $16) 31. b7 {I b-lieve in this pawn!} Bxb7 32. Nxb7 $18 {JS: Now White is winning easily, but in time trouble Jacob blew it.} Qe7 $4 33. Qc2 $2 {I couldn't "do the math," in time pressure, and without prophesying checkmate decided to play it safe. JS: This isn't really playing it safe since although White gets a nice attack he now has to be careful and accurate. Both knight captures were winning:} (33. Ncxd6 {JS: looks awkward to me but actually is pretty simple.} Bb6 (33... Rxa4 34. Qc2 Ra1+ 35. Kh2 Bb6 {and in a scramble I'd probably play} 36. Nc4 Qxb7 37. Qb2 {when Black is totally busted and it will be White who is giving check.}) 34. Qb2 Ba7 35. Nc4) (33. Nbxd6 Ra6 34. Nb5 Rxa4 35. Qc3 Qh4 36. Nbd6 Bf6 37. g3 $1 Qxh3 38. Ne8+ Kf7 39. Nxf6 { JS and Black is blown away}) 33... Qxb7 34. Bxg6 Rb8 {[#] The threat is sometimes scarier than the execution. Black plants the seed of big bad checks along the black rank.} 35. Bh7 (35. Nxd6 Qb2 36. Ne8+ Kg8 37. Qd1 $13) (35. g3 {JS: was my first thought, but of course then Black has} Qxd5) 35... Qf7 $2 36. Be4 $2 (36. Nxd6 Qh5 37. Be4 {keeps complete control. You really don't have to continue this line because once White's king is safe then with so many pawns for the exchange and the white squares the game should "play itself".}) 36... Rb4 $4 37. a5 {Why didn't I take the pawn? I tell my students "when there is food at the table, eat." I was too worried about indigestion.} (37. Nxd6 Qf4 38. a5 (38. g3 $1 Qg5 39. Kg2 {JS and Black is totally crushed}) 38... Bxa5 39. Nf5+ Kg8 40. Qxc5 Rxe4 41. Qc8+ Kh7 42. Qd7+ Kg6 43. Qe6+ Kg5 44. h4+ $3 { JS: This line by Jacob is very nice, but I would simply have safeguarded the king with g3 and Kg2 before taking whatever then dropped .off.}) 37... Qf4 $2 38. Bh7 $2 {Take the pawn! The agony of hindsight.} (38. Nxd6 Bg5 39. a6 Qc1+ 40. Qxc1 Bxc1 41. a7 Ra4 42. Nc8 $3 $18) ({or again} 38. g3) 38... e4 39. g3 Qf6 {[#]} 40. a6 $4 Kxh7 {I resigned in light of Qa1+ forking the king and the almost-promoted pawn. A precious win against a "strong player " proved elusive. JS: This was a very tough battle in which Jacob showed great imagination in playing Rxc5 but then stumbled horribly in time trouble. I doubt if he had time to make any assessment let alone a good one during the mayhem, but what he needed to understand was that with so many pawns for the exchange and the white squares it ought to be winning rather easily if the position became quiescent - at least certainly after d6 had fallen - and so it was most practical quietly to improve his king.} 0-1

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Jonathan SpeelmanJonathan Speelman, born in 1956, studied mathematics but became a professional chess player in 1977. He was a member of the English Olympic team from 1980–2006 and three times British Champion. He played twice in Candidates Tournaments, reaching the semi-final in 1989. He twice seconded a World Championship challenger: Nigel Short and then Viswanathan Anand against Garry Kasparov in London 1993 and New York 1995.

See also

2/28/2017 – This week's Agony (and a soupcon of lukewarm Ecstasy) is all mine, after two rather challenging weekends at the 4NCL in Northampton and then the Bunratty Open. The latter was my first weekend tournament since I played there over a decade ago, and quite a shock to the system given the old-fashioned schedule of a game on Friday evening, three on Saturday and two on Sunday.

See also

2/20/2017 – Michael Jones, 30, is an English language teacher who has traveled the world, playing chess everywhere, "from the balcony of a youth hostel in Frankfurt and a thermal bath in Budapest, to a park in Kutaisi, Georgia, and a bazaar in Kyrgyzstan." Now back in the UK he plays for Stafford and has sent in two deeply annotated games: in one he got checkmated after blundering against a standard sacrifice; and in another he triumphed with a truly outrageous swindle.

Video

Tired of spending hours and hours on the boring theory of your favourite opening? Then here is your solution, play an Anti-Sicilian with 3.Bb5 against 2...d6 or 2...Nc6, and 3.d3 against 2...e6. In 60 minutes you will get a crash course in how to avoid mainstream theory and in understanding the ideas of this Anti-Sicilian setup. After these 60 minutes you should be able to survive the Sicilian for a long time, without being bothered by new developments found by engine x supported by an x-core machine. Now that it finally comes down to understanding, let's play chess!